AEGEE-Göteborg: “Happy to be part of the AEGEE family”

AEGEE-Göteborg is the latest local that joined the AEGEE network – and they have plenty of ideas for international events after the Corona pandemic. Check the interview to find more about them and their relaxed Swedish city.

Golden Times: A few months ago you became a Contact Antenna. Congratulations! How many members do you currently have?
AEGEE-Göteborg: Thank you so much, we are thrilled about it! This January, we started off with exciting 13 members but because of the Corona situation the participation decreased so at the moment we are just four active members. However, many of the other members are still interested in organizing events and we plan to step up our promotion efforts next semester! So we do believe we will engage motivated members during the upcoming semester.

GT: Who is the board and has which task?
AEGEE-Göteborg: The three principal positions will be held by three members that are based in Göteborg: Franziska Höhne as the President, Camilo Arratia Toledo as the Secretary, and Constança Ramis Ferrer as the Treasurer. Ana Gómez Marmolejo will be PR responsible. In addition, Franzi will also take the role of Erasmus responsible.

GT: What is the story of your new AEGEE branch? You were a Contact for a while, then the person left and you took over?
AEGEE-Göteborg: In 2018, Ana met some other AEGEEans in Gothenburg and they decided to found our Contact. They were really excited, organised information events, and motivated people to join the Contact, but eventually the founding members had different opinions and approaches to the organisation. In 2019, Ana then had to leave Gothenburg to continue her studies in Norway, and because of the lack of members willing to move things forward the contact became inactive. Later on, Franzi arrived to Gothenburg in summer 2019 to do her Master’s. Coming from AEGEE-Erfurt, she wanted to continue being part of an AEGEE local in Sweden, so she contacted Netcom and found out about the Contact! Ana told her our story, gave her some contacts of old members, they spread the word and within maybe a month we had our first info meeting! Et voilà – here we are!

GT: You could not sign the contract with AEGEE at the Agora – how will that be done?
AEGEE-Göteborg: We signed it on September 4! We did it through an online signing tool, it worked super smoothly!

GT: What’s the main motivation for students in Göteborg to join AEGEE?
AEGEE-Göteborg: Göteborg is an international city filled with students from all over the globe, AEGEE is a great tool to bring all of us together, exchange, and create new friendships! Compared to other student groups here in Gothenburg, AEGEE stands out because of its vast network and its interdisciplinarity. The people we talked to were very excited about belonging to a European community that focuses on so many important issues, instead of to a group “just” working on sustainability within the university for example.

GT: How do you look for members – and is it easy to convince them?
AEGEE-Göteborg: We are looking for members through organized events, via partnerships with other organizations such as ESN Göteborg, and among our network in the city. More than convince people to join us, we believe that we try to make them feel the AEGEE spirit and the goals we have as AEGEE. That worked a lot, especially with members that didn’t know about AEGEE before, and now they are showing a lot of enthusiasm to make AEGEE-Göteborg stronger.

GT: Public life continues in Sweden, so the Coronavirus does not restrict you in any way to promote AEGEE, right?
AEGEE-Göteborg: It is true that the Swedish government’s response to the pandemic has been fairly more relaxed than in other countries. University teaching however has been moved to online, including the upcoming autumn semester, and public events are much restricted too. So no, we are in the same boat with other antennae – but we’re working on new solutions to recruit members and promote AEGEE!

GT: Does the university or other institutions support you and like the idea of AEGEE?
AEGEE-Göteborg: We do believe that the university likes the idea of AEGEE, but unfortunately registering as a student organisation did turn out to be rather difficult. We are still in the process of registering and finding other institutions to support us, but we are positive!

GT: Did some of your members aside you already attend an AEGEE event?
AEGEE-Göteborg: Yes! Ana has attended several events, the last one was during this August a Summer Event called BriXtreme by AEGEE-Brescia. Franzi has too, and Camilo and Constança were really excited about attending Agora Yerevan and the Boomerang Area Meeting when Corona came in our way. Nevertheless, we attended and by now also organised quite some AEGEE events online! It goes without saying though that all of us are incredibly excited to meet other AEGEEans in person again!

GT: You presented some slides with planned activities at the online Agora, can you tell a bit more about them? For example: what will be the first activities that you want to organise in your city with AEGEE?
AEGEE-Göteborg: We wanted the first local event to be a fun welcome event for the new Erasmus students! For example, we went “plogging” in a nature reserve around a lake close to Göteborg, which means we went running and collecting litter at the same time – a new Swedish trend! Our aim is to become the go-to contact for international students here in Gothenburg, in cooperation with Gothenburg University and ESN. As we are international students ourselves, we have realised that there is quite a lack of guidance for internationals here, and we believe that AEGEE-Göteborg is perfect to fill this gap!

GT: What about European events?
AEGEE-Göteborg: When it comes to European events we are still very much in baby shoes, but one idea that is floating around in our minds is a Eurovision event! Eurovision is a must-see in Sweden; sharing this fascination with other Europeans and turning it into a big cultural exchange would be amazing! Another thing that we’d love to do would be a Scandinavian Summer Dream with the surrounding antennae – because these summers that we have here are too good not be shared!

GT: What can you tell us about Göteborg? What kind of city is it?
AEGEE-Göteborg: Gothenburg is Sweden’s second biggest city after Stockholm with more than 500,000 people. It lies on the Westcoast, halfway between Copenhagen and Oslo. Gothenburg has one of the largest universities in the Nordic countries with loads of international students, yet the city has a very relaxed vibe. Sitting by the ocean, Gothenburg is known for its beautiful canals built in Dutch style, its harbour, sea food, and Liseberg, Scandinavia’s biggest amusement park. What makes Gothenburg special is that there are a lot of international students and many student activities during the year. It is very urban but spiked with parks – you can see moose just a 20-minutes walk from our university building! We are close to beautiful lakes and archipelagos as well. The pride month celebration is pretty big here, too!

GT: What is the nearest antenna for you?
AEGEE-Göteborg: We are in between AEGEE-Stockholm and AEGEE-København, but geographically København is much closer.

GT: Why should AEGEE members from all over Europe visit you and your city?
AEGEE-Göteborg: Our AEGEE local is a very international group, and everyone who comes here will be welcomed with open arms! Göteborg has a lot to offer, from its student nightlife, its impressive lakes and archipelago to the Swedish saunas in winter. If you visit us, you will get to know Swedish nature and city life at the same time, we will show you how to “fika”, which means having coffee and cake while talking about everything except work or studies, our favourite pass-time, and everything with a welcoming international vibe!

GT: You said in your presentation that you want to have a mascot – you have anything particular in mind?
AEGEE-Göteborg (smiling): Yes! Honestly, we are CRAYzy excited about it – but it will remain a secret for a little longer until we reveal it in a SHELLEbration!

GT: Anything you would like to add?
AEGEE-Göteborg: Thanks for the interview! We are really happy to be part of the AEGEE family, and we can’t wait to see you in somewhere in Europe – and in Göteborg!

Cover photo: Market Hall, photo by Peter Kvarnström/Göteborg & Co